Clint Eastwood: Biography and Films
Began film career as an actor

Instantly iconic in his role in Dirty Harry: Violent, strong silent type

Spaghetti esterns: The man with no name, bent on revenge

ork as director

Play Misty For Me (1971): Story of a radio host being stalked

Bridges of Madison County (1995): Love story with Meryl Streep, adaptation of well-known romantic novel

Oscar-winning Unforgiven (1992): Eastwood directed an unconventional estern, after starring in so many himself. Film "functions as both a brilliant western and an examination of the genre as a whole and its patent unrealities" (Sims 1).

Million Dollar Baby (2004): The story of a female boxer, with Eastwood playing her coach as well as directing

Directorial technique

Eastwood has favored relatively intimate, character-driven films. Even when his films contain a great deal of action, like Unforgiven, ultimately it is the character that drives the work (such as Gene Hackman's memorable portrayal of the film's villain and Eastwood's…...

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Works Cited

"Clint Eastwood Directing Techniques." Cinemoose. 21 Jul 2008. Web. 18 Dec 2014.

Ebert, Roger. J. Edgar. Film review. 8 Nov 2011. Web. 18 Dec 2014.

Sims, David. "The Clint Eastwood Taxonomy: What Are His Best Films as a Director?"

The Wire 17 Jun 2014. Web. 18 Dec 2014.

Clint Eastwood’s career spans more than six decades, and is one of Hollywood’s few luminaries that is equally as renowned for his acting as his directing. Born in 1930 in San Francisco, Eastwood’s formative years were spent during the Great Depression, during which his family moved around in search of work. Eastwood has one younger sister (“Biography: Clint Eastwood” 1). Eastwood worked a series of odd jobs, mainly manual labor, until he was drafted into the army in 1950. During his time in the Army, Eastwood proudly recalls how he managed to skillfully avoid combat in the Korean War by becoming a lead swim instructor (Schickel 50). Eastwood exhibited traits of the proudly rebellious antihero that many of Eastwood’s films would later depict. He was discharged from the Army three years later, after which he moved to Los Angeles and became interested in acting. His rugged good looks are what gained…...

Dave, who is an introverted, haunted, loner, acts out his rage and hurt upon another man having sex with a child prostitute. Sean eventually locates Katie's murderers, who were related to and associated with her boyfriend of whom her father did not approve, but not before Jimmy accuses and kills Dave of Katie's murder because he does not believe Dave's confession of murdering the other man. By the conclusion of the film, the remaining men find some relative resolution to their personal problems, which are primarily related to their families.
The film is masterfully composed and has a very subtle power to it, which is indicative of Eastwood's directorial style. Certainly, as a film, the film is meant to be a form of entertainment, but the film is superbly realistic and emotional. The film is about the connections between violence and emotions. There are visual and thematic parallels related to…...

Also, these concepts emphasize the limits associated with the American peoples, as by being as realistic as they possibly could be they made it possible for viewers to accept that a estern did not necessarily have to involve a heroic cowboy running off into the sunset consequent to killing the bad guys and saving the damsels in distress.
These films were all about presenting American values as realistically as possible with the purpose of influencing viewers to accept that there is actually much more to the American culture than one might be inclined to believe.

orks cited:

Campbell, Jeff, "USA 5th Edition," (Lonely Planet, 01.03.2008)

"3:10 to Yuma," Retrieved March 20, 2013, from the Reel Gouda ebsite: http://thereelgouda.blogspot.ie/2007/09/310-to-yuma.html

"Yippie ki-yay! The western's not ridden off into the sunset yet," Retrieved March 20, 2013, from the Guardian ebsite: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2007/oct/29/willlawrencemonampic

Karnick, S.T. "3:10 to Yuma: Review," Retrieved March 20, 2013, from the American Culture ebsite: http://stkarnick.com.previewc45.carrierzone.com/culture/?p=3309

Prasch, Thomas,…...

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Works cited:

Campbell, Jeff, "USA 5th Edition," (Lonely Planet, 01.03.2008)

"3:10 to Yuma," Retrieved March 20, 2013, from the Reel Gouda Website:  http://thereelgouda.blogspot.ie/2007/09/310-to-yuma.html 

"Yippie ki-yay! The western's not ridden off into the sunset yet," Retrieved March 20, 2013, from the Guardian Website:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2007/oct/29/willlawrencemonampic 

Karnick, S.T. "3:10 to Yuma: Review," Retrieved March 20, 2013, from the American Culture Website:  http://stkarnick.com.previewc45.carrierzone.com/culture/?p=3309

Changeling is the 2009 film directed by Clint Eastwood that looks at the complex relationship between Christine Collins and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as she sets out to find her son, alter, who vanished and "mysteriously" reappeared only to have been replaced by an imposter. Through her continued insistence that the child returned to her was not her legitimate son, Reverend Gustav Brieglib, who was on a personal mission to expose the LAPD's corruption, is able to demonstrate that the police department, and Captain J.J. Jones who handled the Collins' investigation, acted negligently in their investigation and the subsequent (unlawful) detention of Mrs. Collins. Through Changeling's narrative, plot, and dialogue, Eastwood is able to highlight the impact and influence of social institutions on abuse and corruption and the disempowerment -- and subsequent empowerment -- of women.
Changeling begins with Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie), a single, working mother, and the…...

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Works Cited

Abramowitz, Rachel. "The Other Son." 2008 October 18. Los Angeles Times. 27 August 2012.

Web.

Changeling. Directed by Clint Eastwood. United States: Universal Pictures, 2009. DVD.

Collins, Christine. "Letter to Mr. A. Eichoff." 1929 May 3. The Daily Mirror. 2008

his is because of the fact that Chrysler is now getting back its success, as well as because of the fact that the company now is becoming more and more known worldwide. he utilization of Clint Eastwood was also a stroke of genius. His voice is not only well-known but also authoritative and emotional in a way that only adds credibility to the brand.
he ethos here is thus found on two fronts: the subject of the commercial as well as the way in which it is delivered by Eastwood. When he speaks about Detroit, Eastwood utilizes personal as well-known anecdotes that the country can recognize and that can rally it towards a common goal. In fact, the word 'rally' and the phrase 'acted as one' is utilized many times, as Eastwood stresses, time and again his faith in the strength of the country, as well as its ability to…...

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The commercial, in my view, is quite successful. This is because it makes use of fantastic appeals processes, especially pathos and ethos. Eastwood's voice also contributes to this feeling, as it is the perfect voice to deliver a message of hope and of togetherness. One needs only watch this ad to feel truly that Chrysler can come back, and can make a difference in America. And one can also feel that the overall message of hope will truly be true, as America will get back on its feet and will truly overcome the current economic crisis.

The advertisement analyzed here can be found at the following link:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PE5V4Uzobc

Ironically, when Walt's last Will and Testament are read, he has left his house and estate to the Church; a final tribute to his wife's years of devotion, and even perhaps, we are given to believe, to Father Janovich's unwavering belief in the goodness of humans.
Walt is almost a quintessential example of someone who has become so embittered by the temporal world that he cannot see the beauty of life or the nature of spirituality. Walt likely went through life much as most of the Post World War II generation; life was planned, this is what you did; you fought for your country, came home, got a job, raised a family, retired, drank at the local pub, and let your wife handle the Church and all the emotional issues. Trouble is -- this paradigm often results in a great deal of burying emotions, of distancing from one's family, and…...

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REFERENCES

Gran Torino (2010). Box Office Mojo. Cited in:

 http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=grantorino.htm

Frankie replies by allowing her to keep the bag she is hitting and giving her some hope. Later, Frankie agrees to train Maggie, but still maintains his distance by telling her that he will not be her manager. He even goes so far as to arrange for her to meet a manager, but Maggie insists on Frankie for the entirety of her boxing career, and after getting to know her better, Frankie concedes. Thus, Frankie begins to accept Maggie as he becomes more and more aware of her persistence and determination. His ability to accept her, then, some may argue, is built on her having masculine characteristics. If she were feminine at all, this critic would suppose, he would not accept her. However, this argument can be countered by simply suggesting that no characteristic is inherently feminine or masculine, but that each gender has equal ability to experience many…...

estern films, "Shane," made in 1953 and directed by George Stevens, and "Unforgiven," made in 1992 and directed by Clint Eastwood. Specifically, it will analyze the two films, and discuss their importance in the genre of estern films. Today, the classic estern is a film gone out of style, but these two films live on as classics, generally because they deviate from the classic estern model, by showing the characters three dimensionally, and the violence as real and devastating.
TO ESTERN FILMS

"Shane" does not rely on elaborate sets and costuming to get its message across to viewers. One reviewer called the sets "spartan" and the language of the film "laconic." The characters of this estern make the film the classic that it has become. Shane is a man of few words, but much action, and he firmly stands behind his beliefs. From the opening scene, when he rides down into…...

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Works Cited

Dirks, Tim. "Unforgiven." Filmsite.org. 2002. 27 July 2002.

<  http://www.filmsite.org/unfo.html 

Shane. Dir. George Stevens. Perf. Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, and Brandon de Wilde. Paramount, 1953.

Sitton, Bob. "Refocusing the Western." Film-Philosophy. Vol. 4 no. 24. October 2000. 27 July 2002.

I am very glad that I have waited to pursue my goal. I feel like my travels and my life experience have given me some weight and breadth to my history that will permit me to be a better storyteller. However, I also feel that taking a break from actively pursuing my goal has given me the time to get a firm foundation underneath me. While I may dream of one day winning an Oscar, I understand that being a success in this industry does not mean that one has to be a box office headliner. In fact, in this day and age, actors seem to be gaining merit for being remarkable storytellers, and not simply for having camera-ready Hollywood looks.

When I look at the people that I most admire as actors, I realize that they all tell stories on multiple levels. Take, for example, Clint Eastwood. Eastwood could easily…...

Today, the Americans fight different insurgent factions, who have limited weaponry, no air force, and no real large scale fighting tactics. Instead, they create havoc with roadside bombs and suicide bombers. Vietnam was fought on the scale of a world war, while Iraq is being fought on a much smaller scale. In addition, there was a draft in place during Vietnam, and no draft in place today, so our forces are stretched much thinner in Iraq and at home.
In contrast, many experts believe there are similarities between the two wars, but there are far more differences that keep the two wars very far apart in perspective. For example, there is no real Communist influence in Iraq; rather the country suffers from domestic unrest and insurgency, rather than large-scale intervention from other countries (except perhaps Iran). Thus, Americans are not fighting a "cold" war but rather a war supposedly based…...

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References

Kagan, Frederick W. "Iraq Is Not Vietnam." Policy Review (2005): 3+.

Letters from Iwo Jima. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Perf. Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, and Ryo Kase. Warner Brothers, 2006.

Lopez, George a. "A Quagmire? Vietnam, Iraq & Other Analogies." Commonweal 16 Jan. 2004: 11+.

May, Elaine Tyler. Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era. Revised ed. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

Cinderella Man
The 2005 film "Cinderella Man" reunites the team of director Ron Howard, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, and leading man Russell Crowe, who had worked together four years earlier on the Oscar-winning "A Beautiful Mind." On the surface the two projects could not seem more different: in "A Beautiful Mind" Crowe plays John Nash, a bespectacled Princeton professor with paranoid schiozphrenia and a Nobel Prize in economics; in "Cinderella Man" he plays Depression-era heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock (who had been dubbed "Cinderella Man" in the newspaper columns of raffish "Guys and Dolls" scribe Damon Runyon, who also supplies the film's epigraph). Although the film was widely praised by critics and was nominated for three Oscars (for editing, makeup, and for Paul Giamatti as Best Actor in a Supporting Role playing Braddock's trainer Joe Gould) "Cinderella Man" would underperform at the box office on its original 2005 release --…...

Gran Torino
Moody (2010) introduced many important concepts about aging in his textbook. The idea of aging as a subject is broached in many ways in this informative book, however there are some key aspects that suggest the most prominent and problematic concepts of aging that are highlighted when comparing this text to the film Gran Torino, directed by Clint Eastwood. This movie suggests that despite the portrayal as violence as a virtue, becoming elderly is a difficult and misunderstood time in one's life. The film depicted a man who, after a lifetime of resorting to violence, realizes he his misunderstood in a changed world that pays him no respect.

Moody wrote "the subjective experience of meaning is closely related to individual well being. The search for interpretive meaning in later life underscores the importance of cognitive functioning in old age," (p.23). Using this idea as a model for the main character…...

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References

Albom, Mitch. (1997). Tuesdays with Morrie: An old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson. New York: Doubleday.

Lorenz, R., Gerber, B., Eastwood, C., (producers) & Eastwood, C. (director). (2008). Gran Torino [motion picture]. United States, Germany: Warner Bros.

Moody, H.R. (2010). Aging: Concepts and Controversies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

In other words, Leone created a surrealistic diorama overflowing with American Western iconography that resembles the historical background of the "real" American West, injected with familiar American cinematic imagery related to costumes, physical attributes, architecture, transportation devices, weaponry and even geophysical patterns, such as deserts, wide-open plains, mountains, and typical urban settings reminiscent of an American Western town.
In essence, Leone's 'Man With No Name' trilogy "expresses the familiar imagery of the Old West based upon myths and legends culled from the pages of an American history primer" (De Claudio, 76), replete with imaginative visions of the 19th century America Southwest resplendent with good, old-fashioned American violence, greed, avarice, self-promotion and self-determination (De Fornari, 124). Leone also creates a very recognizable milieu "rooted in American historical detail but refracted through the looking-glass" of typical Hollywood Western films dating back to the silent era (Cumbow, 214), an abstraction of the "real…...

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cumbow, Robert C. The Films of Sergio Leone. UK: Scarecrow Press, 2008.

De Claudio, Gianni. Directed by Sergio Leone. Rome, Italy: Libreria University Press,

1990.

De Fornari, Oreste. Sergio Leone: The Great Italian Dream of Legendary America.

And as with male road pictures, it is sex that threatens to divide the two women. Not when they unite to blow up the truck of a leering, misogynistic truck driver, but when the drifter they pick up tires to exploit them and Thelma's attraction towards him. Thelma is more flighty and sexual, and her youthful, sexual drive, unfulfilled in her relationship with her husband, causes the events that propel the narrative of the road picture, and perpetually frustrates Louise. The film does seem to imply that women cannot have sex, love, freedom, and power but then again most road pictures suggest that men cannot settle down into marriage with women and still glory in the freedom of the road. Like the women's relationships, the male relationships of road pictures often seem homoerotic in their intensity and disdain of the opposite gender's compassion. However, when transposed onto a feminine narrative,…...

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Works Cited

Thelma and Louise." Directed by Ridley Scott. 1991.